Chilean Army

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Chilean Army
Military manpower
Military age	18 years of age required for military service (2006)
Availability	age 18-49: 3,815,761 (2005 est.)
Fit for military service	3,123,281 (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annually	150,084 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$3.6 billion (2006 est.)
Percent of GDP	3.9% (2006 est.)
See Also	Military of Chile

The Chilean Army ("Ejército de Chile" in Spanish) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army (20,700 of which are conscripts)^[1] is organized into six divisions and an air brigade.

Since the last years and after several major reequipment programs, the Chilean Army has become one of the most technologically advanced and professional armies of America^[2][3]

Several tragedies have struck the Chilean Army in the last few years. In 2005, 45 mostly conscript soldiers died when they were trapped in a snow storm during mountain training near Antuco. On November 12, 2006, an additional 19 soldiers, who were largely the members of a military band, drowned when their bus fell in a river near Cañete.

The Chilean Army is mostly supported by the United States, Germany, Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom and France.

Contents 1 Peacekeeping 2 Military Equipment 2.1 Tanks and APC's 2.2 Guns (Rifles, pistols, grenade launchers and machine guns) 3 Artillery 4 Air defense 5 Anti tanks systems 6 Transport 7 Aircraft inventory 8 Commanders-in-chief 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Peacekeeping

• UNIFIL withdrew in the early 90's
• MINUSTAH United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Haiti.
• UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, embedded in the Argentine Battalion [2]

[edit] Military Equipment

The Chilean Army has aqcuired in the last few years Leopard 1V tanks,'s from the Netherlands Army (via RDM), M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from USA and Italy, M-109´s SPH from Switzerland and AIFV-B APCs from the Belgian Army (via SABIEX). Now is due to receive new Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks (MBTs) from the German Army to boost defence capabilities. Also 40 Humvees are expected to arrive during 2007. Their goal is to have a completely modernized (and mostly mechanized) army by 2015. They are also modifiying the operational structure, creating Armoured (and 1 Special Operations) Brigades throughout the entire territory, while conserving the current divisional scheme. Further acquisitions of more M-109´s self propelled howitzers, Flakpanzer Gepard self propelled anti air vehicles and new attacks helicopters. In all, the Chilean army has about 202 Leopard 1's, 427 M113's, 169 AIFV´s and are going to receive 118 Leopard 2's from Germany. They also have around 300 of FAMAE Piranhas (Mowag Piranha) LAV's. Their main assault rifle is currently the licenced built SG-542 with some Heckler & Koch G3 still in service.

[edit] Tanks and APC's

• 202 Leopard 1 V Main Battle Tank (to be replaced by the Leopard 2A4)
• Several numbers of Leopard chassis-based vehicles
• 118 Leopard 2 A4 Main Battle Tank
• 169 AIFV YPR-765 from Belgian stocks
• 20 AIFV Armored Personnel Carrier variants equipped with Twin SPIKE anti-tank missiles and M2 Browning machine gun
• 427 M113 A2 APCs
• 300 Mowag Piranha LAV 's manufactured in Chile by FAMAE

[edit] Guns (Rifles, pistols, grenade launchers and machine guns)

PISTOLS

• CZ-75 Semi-automatic pistol (Main Pistol of the army)
• M9 pistol
• SIG P220
• Desert Eagle
• Glock 17

RIFLES

• SG-542 manufactured in Chile by FAMAE (Main Assault rifle)
• SG-540 manufactured in Chile by FAMAE (Main Assault rifle)
• SG 550 - 500+ manufactured in Chile by FAMAE (Main Assault rifle)
• Heckler & Koch G3 (In service only in mountain troops, artillery and engineers)
• Galil ARM (For paratroopers and commandos)
• M4 carbine equipped with M203 grenade launcher (for special forces only).
• M82 Barrett rifle (A1 version) High-Powered Sniper Rifle
• FN F2000

OTHER GUNS

• Rheinmetall MG42 (Converted into MG3)
• Rheinmetall MG3 (Standard Machine Gun)
• M2 Browning machine gun
• FN M249
• FN P90
• SIG 552
• Heckler & Koch MP5

GRENADE LAUNCHERS

• Mk 19 grenade launcher
• Milkor MGL grenade launcher

[edit] Artillery

• 24 x M109 howitzer KAWEST Upgraded by RUAG, Switzerland
• 47 x AMX-13 Mk.F3 155 mm Self Propelled Howitzer
• Soltam M68 155mm Towed Howitzer
• Soltam M71 155mm Towed Howitzer
• M101 howitzer/33 105mm Towed Howitzer (Upgraded by FAMAE)
• Oto Melara M56 105mm Towed Howitzer (Mountain Artillery)

[edit] Air defense

• Gepard (Cheetah) (In study)
• Mistral missile launchers mounted on UNIMOG trucks

[edit] Anti tanks systems

• AT4 Anti-tank weapon (Infantry Squad AT weapon)
• MILAN Anti-tank weapon
• Carl Gustav recoilless rifle Anti-tank weapon
• Bofors 106mm Recoiless Gun mounted on IMI Storm jeeps.
• IMI MAPATS mounted on IMI Storm jeeps.
• Rafael SPIKE ATGM, on YPR 765 and MD-530F (manufactured in Israel).

[edit] Transport

Land transport assets:

• 200+ HMMWV (Some will replace the "AT role" Storm Jeeps. The rest for Recon units).
• The standard transport for troop commanders is the IMI Storm (manufactured in Israel).
• MB-1017A (Most used truck)
• Armoured Unimog trucks
• Ducati Multistrada Dual-sport Motorcycles

[edit] Aircraft inventory

[edit] Commanders-in-chief

Rank	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Position
Brigadier	José Miguel Carrera Verdugo	March 31, 1813	November 23, 1813	Army Commander-in-chief
Colonel	Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme	November 27, 1813	September 2, 1814	Army Commander-in-chief
Brigadier	José Miguel Carrera Verdugo	August 28, 1814	October 2, 1814	Army Commander-in-chief
Captain General	Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme	April 17, 1819	January 28, 1823	Army Commander-in-chief
Captain General	Ramón Freire Serrano	February 21, 1823	April 2, 1830	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	José Joaquín Prieto Vial	April 2, 1830	September 18, 1841	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Manuel Bulnes Prieto	September 18, 1841	October 18, 1866	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Marcos Maturana del Campo	October 18, 1866	December 21, 1870	Senior General Officer
Division General	Juan Manuel Jarpa Caamaño	August 8, 1871	December 31, 1875	Senior General Officer
Division General	Basilio Urrutia Vásquez	August 8, 1871	April 7, 1879	Senior General Officer
Division General	Justo Arteaga Cuevas	April 8, 1879	July 18, 1879	Field Commander-in-chief
Division General	Erasmo Escala Arriagada	July 18, 1879	March 28, 1880	Field Commander-in-chief
Division General	Manuel Baquedano González	April 3, 1880	May 3, 1881	Field Commander-in-chief
Division General	Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez	May 3, 1881	December 19, 1883	Inspector General
Division General	Emilio Sotomayor Baeza	January 4, 1884	August 22, 1888	Inspector General
Division General	José Francisco Gana Castro	August 22, 1888	September 4, 1891	Field Commander-in-chief
Division General	Marco Aurelio Arriagada	September 14, 1891	August 28, 1894	Inspector General
Division General	Adolfo Hölley Urzúa	August 28, 1894	October 13, 1900	Inspector General
Division General	Emilio Körner Henze	October 13, 1900	April 19, 1910	Inspector General
Division General	Jorge Boonen Rivera	April 19, 1910	April 26, 1921	Inspector General
Division General	Arístides Pinto Concha	April 26, 1921	February 13, 1922	Inspector General
Division General	Luis Altamirano Talavera	February 13, 1922	November 28, 1924	Inspector General
Division General	Pedro Pablo Dartnell Encina	November 28, 1924	January 23, 1925	Inspector General
Division General	Mariano Navarrete Ciris	January 31, 1925	November 10, 1925	Inspector General
Division General	Juan Emilio Ortiz Vega	November 11, 1925	January 7, 1927	Inspector General
Division General	Francisco Javier Diaz Valderrama	February 18, 1927	March 20, 1930	Inspector General
Division General	Pedro Charpin Rival	March 21, 1930	November 7, 1930	Inspector General
Division General	Bartolomé Blanche Espejo	November 7, 1930	August 4, 1931	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Pedro Charpin Rival	August 5, 1931	August 22, 1931	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Indalicio Téllez Cárcamo	August 25, 1931	June 11, 1932	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Agustín Moreno Ladrón de Guevara	June 15, 1932	August 2, 1932	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Luis Otero Mujica	August 3, 1932	December 26, 1932	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Pedro Vignola Cortés	December 26, 1932	December 21, 1933	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Marcial Urrutia Urrutia	December 23, 1933	March 27, 1934	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Oscar Novoa Fuentes	March 27, 1934	December 20, 1938	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Carlos Fuentes Rabe	December 26, 1938	August 23, 1940	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Oscar Escudero Otárola	August 23, 1940	March 8, 1943	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Arturo Espinoza Mujica	August 12, 1943	October 11, 1944	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Alfredo Portales Mourgues	November 8, 1943	November 12, 1945	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Oscar Fuentes Pantoja	November 12, 1945	November 29, 1946	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Guillermo Barrios Tirado	November 29, 1946	August 2, 1947	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Ramón Cañas Montalva	August 2, 1947	October 8, 1949	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Guillermo Barrios Tirado	October 8, 1949	January 9, 1950	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Rafael Fernández Reyes	January 9, 1950	October 28, 1952	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Santiago Danús Peña	November 3, 1952	March 11, 1953	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Carlos Mezzano Camino	March 11, 1953	June 10, 1954	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Enrique Franco Hidalgo	June 11, 1954	March 17, 1955	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Raúl Araya Stiglich	March 17, 1955	May 8, 1956	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Luis Vidal Vargas	May 8, 1956	November 3, 1958	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	René Vidal Merino	November 3, 1958	November 13, 1958	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Oscar Izurieta Molina	November 14, 1958	November 3, 1964	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Bernardino Parada Moreno	November 4, 1964	July 4, 1967	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Luis Miqueles Caridi	July 5, 1967	May 3, 1968	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Sergio Castillo Aránguiz	May 3, 1968	October 24, 1969	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	René Schneider Chereau	October 27, 1969	October 22, 1970	Army Commander-in-chief
Division General	Carlos Prats González	October 26, 1970	August 23, 1973	Army Commander-in-chief
Captain General	Augusto Pinochet Ugarte	August 23, 1973	March 10, 1998	Army Commander-in-chief
Lieutenant General	Ricardo Izurieta Caffarena	March 11, 1998	March 10, 2002	Army Commander-in-chief
Lieutenant General	Juan Emilio Cheyre Espinosa	March 11, 2002	March 10, 2006	Army Commander-in-chief
Army General	Oscar Izurieta Ferrer	March 11, 2006	Present	Army Commander-in-chief

[edit] References

1. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), The Military Balance, 2002-2003
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm
4. ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15, 2007.

[edit] External links

• Official Chilean Army site (Spanish)

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[4]
Aérospatiale Lama	France	search and rescue	SA 315B	1
Aérospatiale Puma	France	transport helicopter	SA 330L	4
CASA C-212 Aviocar	Spain	tactical transport	C-212-100 C-212-300	4 2
CASA CN-235	Spain	tactical transport		3
Cessna 172	United States	utility		3
Cessna 208	United States	utility		8
Cessna Citation	United States	VIP transport	Citation II Citation III	1 1
Eurocopter Cougar	France	transport helicopter	AS 332B AS 332M2	1 1
Eurocopter Ecureuil	France	utility helicopter	AS 350 AS 355	3 1
MD Helicopters MD 530	United States	utility helicopter	MD 530F	19